Keto Irish Soda Bread

Keto Irish Soda Bread is a delicious low carb, grain-free alternative to the original. This tender almond flour bread has a crusty exterior and sugar-free dried cranberries in place of the traditional currants.

Recipe Print

A loaf of keto Irish soda bread on a wooden cutting board with a small plate of butter.

Titled image of keto Irish soda bread on a wooden cutting board.

It’s almost March and you know what that means. Everyone starts thinking about shamrocks and leprechauns, and this tender keto Irish soda bread.

What, what? You aren’t laser-focused on minty green keto desserts, corned beef and cabbage, and cocktails made with Keto Irish Cream? Why ever not?

Okay, fine. I get it, St. Paddy’s Day is fun but it’s not the most widely recognized of holidays. But even if you don’t mark the occasion at all, I highly recommend this keto quick bread recipe. It’s delicious any old time!

Top down image of grain-free Irish soda bread on a pewter plate.

What is Irish Soda Bread?

Don’t feel put out if you’ve never heard of soda bread. It’s simply a quick bread made with baking soda as the leavening agent, rather than baking powder or yeast.

Many cuisines have their own version of soda bread, as it’s faster and easier to make than yeast-leavened dough. And baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is inexpensive and easy to procure.

Irish soda bread comes in various forms, but the one that most people know on this side of the pond is lightly sweetened and contains raising or currants.

It’s a wonderful rustic-style bread that has a soft and tender center and a crusty exterior. And that shaggy looking exterior always reminds me of a giant scone!

A slice of keto Irish soda bread on a white plate with a butter knife.

Ingredients

Classic Irish soda bread takes flour, baking soda, butter, and buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the soda to create little bubbles that cause the bread to rise.

For a keto version, we obviously need to change a few of these ingredients. Here’s what you need:

Heavy cream
Apple cider vinegar: this replaces the acid in the buttermilk
Almond flour
Coconut flour
Protein powder: helps to replace the gluten in wheat flour
Sweetener: just a little adds the right flavor
Baking soda
Salt
Butter
Egg whites
Sugar-free dried cranberries (optional)

A collage of 6 photos showing the steps for making Keto Irish Soda Bread.

How to make keto Irish soda bread

I took my cues for this recipe from one by Ina Garten. Her soda bread takes some egg, which helps give it more structure. I utilized egg whites to make the bread a little lighter as well.

Sour your cream: Buttermilk is a little too high carb for keto, but adding some vinegar to heavy cream is a great substitute.
Whisk the dry ingredients: I used mostly almond flour with a touch of coconut flour to get the right consistency.
Grate in the butter: I love this trick for distributing cold butter throughout dough. I used it in my keto apple scones too, and it gives a more flaky consistency.
Stir in the egg whites and soured cream: The dough will be shaggy and somewhat sticky.
Chop the dried cranberries: If you decide to use them, it’s best to chop them up more finely. This gives better distribution throughout the bread, and makes it less likely to tear when you cut into it.
Form into a loaf: The dough will spread a bit so shape into a high, round loaf.
Cut a deep X into the center: You may need to wet your knife so it doesn’t stick to the dough too much. The cuts help the center cook through properly.
Bake 20 minutes: You need the initial blast of heat from the oven to make the bread rise properly.
Turn off the oven: Let the bread sit inside another 30 to 40 minutes to cook through. If you keep the oven on the whole time, it may brown too much. Once the top is nice and firm, with no sponginess underneath, the bread is done.
Let cool completely: Keto Irish Soda Bread is very fragile when it first comes out of the oven so let it cool completely to firm up.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am allergic to almonds, can I make this with coconut flour?

Coconut flour would require changing the entire recipe, so I recommend using sunflower seed flour instead. You can use it 1:1 to replace the almond flour.

Can I make this dairy-free?

Try using coconut milk in place of the heavy cream.

Can I use a different sweetener?

Absolutely! This keto Irish soda bread does not rely on the sweetener for consistency so anything you like best should work. You can also leave out the sweetener entirely, if you prefer.

How do you serve keto Irish soda bread?

This bread is great with anything! I like mine lightly toasted with a little butter. It’s only mildly sweet so it also goes well with soups and stews.

Storage Information

Because it is quite moist, you should store keto Irish soda bread in the fridge, tightly wrapped. It will last for up to a week.

You can also freeze it for several months.

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